Siempre Sol, Sosua (Dominican Republic)

One of the towns I visited on my honeymoon was Sosua. It was about halfway between Cabarete and Puerta Plata. It's a small town which is dominated by its market on the beach. This is the place to go if you want to get your souvenirs. Beware though, the shopkeepers are very insistent, and there are a lot of stalls. You have been warned.
Anyway, if you survive the onslaught of shopkeepers  trying to get you into their shop, you will find yourself in need of a drink (I certainly did!). This is handy, because at the end of the market area is a lot of pubs. These mainly cater to the Canadian and German tourists as they are the mainstay of Sosua. 

This little bar is the Siempre Sol, where we sat and wiled away a good bit of time. Not so much retail therapy, more therapy after retail! This is typical of all the bars along the beach, an open fronted shack with some chair outside. This isn't bad, per se, but don't expect a trendy wine bar. You won't find any.

 

 

 

 

The one great thing about working up a thirst is that the first sip of beer tastes all the better. While in Dominican Republic, I mainly drank Presidente Beer. This was a pilsner style beer. Light and refreshing, and best served ice cold. There are other beers made in the Domincan Republic, but this is the main one.
On my visit to the Siempre Sol, I opted for the grande version which came in the bamboo cooler to the right. This did a lot to keep the beer cold in the sweltering tropical heat. One tip for drinking beer in tropical countries: drink fast. Your beer is delivered cold, it won't stay that way for long.

Sosua is a good place to visit. If you are in the Domincan Republic, give it a go. I personally couldn't run the gauntlet of shops again (I would walk down on the waters edge), but would visit the pub/cafe area to enjoy some more Presidente beer.

Viva El Presidente!

Chesham Beer Festival 2008

What are you doing this weekend? Why not go to the Chesham Beer Festival. Details are as follows:

When: 24th at 12 noon until the beer runs out
Where: Chesham Town Hall
Entrance Fee: There is no entrance fee as such but the beer is priced at about £3 per pint but is cheaper the more tokens you buy.
What: 18 ales and 5 ciders ranging from a dark mild through to old peculiar and a range of ciders including "old rosie" at 7.3%

See you there!

The Bell, Chartridge

The Bell
Chartridge Lane
Chesham
Buckinghamshire
HP5 2TF

 

 

High up on the top of the hill that is Chartridge, near the golf club, is The Bell. It is a small gastro- pub which looks like it has benefited from a lot of love from the landlord. We arrived there after an hour and a half of walking through the countryside, but it can be reached easily from Chesham by walking/driving up the Chartridge Lane.  As  you can imagine, I was rather thirsty after 90 minutes of walking, and really wanted my pint of cider. Unfortunately, the tap cider is Scrumpy Jack, which I find too sweet. Instead I went with one of those bottled ciders which they serve with ice (yes I know they are sweet too!) for the refreshment factor.

With such a relatively small bar area (the white part seen in the picture on the right), it is no surprise that there aren't many taps. There were, however, three hand pumps dispensing Brakspear, London Pride (I think), and Bombadier. There were the usual euro-pop lagers Carlsberg and Stella, Scrumpy Jack, and Guinness.

The food was very well cooked. The menus were single sheets of printed paper which suggested that the menu gets changed often, something I like in a gastro-pub. I opted for the Chef's Fish and Chips, while Mrs. Mouse opted for Pork Sunday Roast.
The Fish and Chips were perfectly done; obviously being battered upon ordering and then fried.  The result of this was a beautifully golden and crunchy batter. The tartar sauce which came with the fish was also obviously freshly made; I love fresh tartar sauce.
Mrs. Mouse's roast pork was also of the same high quality. The pork was freshly carved and came with freshly steamed/boiled vegetables roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings. Topping all of this off was a freshly made apple sauce.
Finally, Mrs. Mouse finished off the meal with a coffee and a pudding. I cannot remember which pudding, but it tasted very nice, and the coffee was of a very high quality.

Our overall impression of the pub was that it was lovingly cared for. The food was of high quality, but the portions were perhaps a bit small for the price; there are pubs within a 90 minute walk which serve slightly higher quality food, in larger portions, and at the same price. It was a shame that the cider on tap was Scrumpy Jack, but did not detract from the pleasure of the visit. Both Mrs. Mouse and I agree that we will visit there again, but perhaps only for a drink this time.

Everyman Bistro, Liverpool

Everyman Bistro and Bars
5-9 Hope Street
Liverpool
L1 9BH

Phone: 0151 709 0249

 

 

Tucked away below the Everyman Theatre on Hope Street in Liverpool is the Everyman Bistro.  This is the place to go if you want an excellent atmosphere, great food, and be able to chat amongst yourselves until the wee hours. 

First of all, the beers. They have the general Becks Vier, and Stella on tap, but they also have two guest beers on tap at any time. When I went there last weekend it was De Koninck, and Maredsous Blonde.  De Koninck is one of my favourite beers and I will have at least two "Bollekke" whenever I see it on tap. Maredsous is a beer I had never tried before. Apparently this very drinkable Belgian beer is from the Duvel stable. The flavour is that of a slightly richer Leffe Blonde, but not as heavy as Leffe Bruin. If I see it again on tap, I will definitely have to sample it more extensively.

The food at the Everyman is excellent. Everything is made to a very high standard, and the portions are of a decent size. Their soups come particularly highly recommended as a decent lunch, or even mid-evening snack.

Like the food, the service is excellent. The staff are attentive and polite. Even at its busiest I have never had to wait long to be served at either the bar or food counter.

I think that if you live in Liverpool, or are just visiting, the Everyman Bistro is a place to go if you would like some good food and drink in a clean and welcoming atmosphere. You may also see the odd celebrity there!

Hole In The Wall, Waterloo

The Hole In The Wall
5 Mepham St.
London
SE1 8SQ

Phone: 0207 928 6196

 

 

Last night I met up with a friend in the Hole in the Wall pub next to London Waterloo station. It wasn't my first time there, nor will it be my last. I quite like the HITW. It is just obscure enough to never be overly full. If there aren't any seats, there is usually ample standing room for you not to get jostled too much.

The pub is situated in an arch beneath what I believe to be the one of the main routes used by trains to enter Waterloo station. Every few minutes there is a rumbling throughout the pub which is not due to the food.

The food is very simple fare, chips, burgers, baguettes. This is never going to be a gastro pub, but it fills a gap.

The pub does have a rather large selection of beers on tap. There are five ale hand pumps, but I did not get to see. They also do Leffe Blonde on tap, which is one of my favourite beers. I was rather disappointed to see that they no longer serve Peetermans (of the Stella stables). It is a great tasting lager, which I try to drink whenever I can.  Other beers on tap include Hoegaarden, and Becks Vier, the latter of which I have never really been impressed with. Tastes like someone has watered down a normal Becks.

The staff are quite attentive. I was there during a football match night, and it never got deeper than three at the bar, which was during half time. Whenever I ordered, I barely had time to look around (hence missing what ales/bitters they served).

Overall, a good pub to go to for a nifty-swifty before your train, or for a full on meet up.

Beer Blogging

I have mentioned before that one of the blogs I enjoy reading is The Beer Nut. His link is on the right. Through one of The Beer Nut's posts, I have started reading Stonch's Beer Blog.

I find Stonch's writing to be informative and concise. Since starting in January 2007 Stonch has covered quite a diverse amount of topics including international beers, beer festivals, home brewing, and pubs reviews. He has a London Beer Map which is very helpful. I am currently working on getting a map of the pubs I have visited onto this blog as I feel it will add an extra element. I recommend giving his blog a read.

While writing this post, I realised that I have never said anything specific about The Beer Nut's blog. Given that I visit his blog on a minimum of a weekly basis, I feel that I have not done my duty in pointing out a very well written and informative site about various types of beer. It appears that there is no beer that he is not willing to try and give a well thought out review of.  If there is a beer you have seen but are unsure what it will taste like, go to The Beer Nut's blog to see if he's tried it. That's what I do.

The Bricklayers Arms, Flaunden

 The Bricklayers Arms
Hogpits Bottom
HP3 0PH

Tel: 01442 833322

Email: goodfood@bricklayersarms.com

 

Yesterday we visited The Bricklayers Arms in Flaunden. For us, a good place to stop when doing the Chess Valley Walk is Latimer. It is about one and a half hours walk from central Chesham. The only problem is that Latimer doesn't have any pubs. The last time we ended up there, we asked around and were pointed to The Sugarloaf Inn in Little Chalfont. We weren't impressed. It's a shame, then, that we didn't walk in the other direction towards Flaunden. We may have come across The Bricklayers Arms.

 

This wonderful pub has won a host of awards, which they are not shy in stating in their pamphlet on the bar, the trophies behind the bar, and on their website. And rightly so, I say.

First of all a comment on the drinks. There were your standard lagers, and Guinness. The cider on tap was Scrumpy Jack, which is unfortunate. When out on a Sunday jaunt, I usually have a cider. I am a fan of Harvest Dry which I first sampled in The Rose and Crown, Hawridge. If they had this cider on tap, I would have gone a bit nuts, I think.
There were standard ales on hand-pump (London Pride), and one offering from the Tring Brewery called Royal Poacher. I am becoming quite a fan of this brewery and consider it a mark of quality to see the brewery's products on sale in a pub. I tried the Royal Poacher and it blew my mind. As a bitter goes, this is one of the top. It had so much depth to it; it continued to hit me with flavour long after my sip had gone down. I do recall a quite strong citrus flavouring, which gave quite a fresh aftertaste.

The food was superb. We were actually very lucky as we walked in without a booking, and were able to sit at one of their bar-area tables and eat. I get the idea that if you want to sample the food here, book. So, back to the food. On Sunday's they only do a roast menu. This was by no means an offering of four dishes and a random pudding. No. It was a fully featured menu with superb looking starters, mains, and desserts. Mrs-Mouse-To-Be had the chicken, I had the pork, and Mr. O (our luncheon companion) opted for the vegetable and basil soup. All  three of the dishes were cooked to perfection. I think I won with my pork dish. It was heavenly. The vegetables were fresh enough to have a bite to them, the Yorkshire pudding was crisp, and the potatoes were roasted and not deep fried.
Due  to time issues we weren't able to sample any of the desserts, but they did look good and we will be back to try them.

Overall, this is a well run, well cared for pub which seems to be at the top of their game. The Sunday roasts were excellent, and the service was very good. I would suggest getting there early as the place fills up very quickly, and to the brim.